Feature: Windows 8 for software developers: the Longhorn dream reborn?

Early this month, Microsoft dropped something of a bombshell on Windows developers: the new Windows 8 touch-friendly immersive style would use a developer platform not based on .NET, which Microsoft has been championing for the past decade. Instead, it would use HTML5 and JavaScript. Since then, the company has refrained from making any further comment on the issue. In particular, the question that has many Windows developers particularly concerned—how can I make use of my existing skills and experience when developing these new applications?—remains unanswered; the company plans to reveal nothing until its BUILD conference in September.

But the situation probably won't be as grim as many developers fear. Early milestone builds of Windows 8 have leaked onto the Internet, and considerable effort has been put into figuring out how they work. Though officially tight-lipped, snippets of information have escaped Redmond's walls. So far, it appears that Windows 8 development doesn't just look not bad A little bit of history

Before we look at what Microsoft will be doing with Windows 8, a little context is necessary. To understand the vision and why it's such a break from the past, one first has to understand the current reality.

Prior to the introduction of .NET in 2002, Windows applications were written in two main ways. "Big" applications—think Office, or Photoshop, or Netscape Navigator—tended to be written using the Win32 API and C++. Win32 is a large API that covers a lot of ground. There's lots of "obvious" stuff, like graphics and user interface creation, network communication, and file system access, and there are also many more esoteric things, like backup creation, network configuration, and security.

It's big, and it does a lot, but there are important things that it doesn't do very well, and some things it doesn't really do at all. For example, although it includes an API for database access — several , in fact —it's rather fiddly to use plain Win32 for writing applications that use databases a lot. More problematically, even though it has all the basic tools you need for putting together a GUI, it sure doesn't make it easy. For example, it doesn't give you any assistance when laying out a user interface . Each button, text box, and toolbar must be positioned by the developer. If you want the positions to change when you enlarge the window, well, you have to do that all yourself. Many libraries were developed to act as a layer between the developer and the operating system to try to make this task easier, including Microsoft's own MFC , but all too often you have to delve into Win32 to get things to work just the way you want.

Windows Xp Frozen - News


Feature: Windows 8 for software developers: the Longhorn dream reborn?

Windows XP, released the year before .NET, unsurprisingly didn't use the technology. But as Microsoft announced at PDC in October 2003, that was due to change with the release of Windows Longhorn. Longhorn would integrate .NET into the core Windows




Moved HD & Frozen Activation Screen on Boot - Tech Support Forum

My parents have an old Compaq running Windows XP that has a power issue, but I just wanted to make sure the internal Samsung HD was okay, so I pulled it from the Compaq and installed it into an empty bay in my Dell running Windows 7. Everything seemed fine, as I was able to boot the Dell as usual running Windows 7 and the Samsung disk showed up as Drive F. When you install a Hard Drive to a computer and install an OS it takes a snapshot of the hardware and installs drivers for that motherboard and chipset. If you remove that hard drive from the motherboard and put it on another board, when the computer boots the hard drive looks for that hardware to boot if it doesn't find it, it will BSOD, or do what your going through. You can do a Repair Install on this drive to let it install the chipset drivers for this particular motherboard and you shouldn't loose any data. But you may need to reactivate it since this isn't a Compaq motherboard. When you install a Hard Drive to a computer and install an OS it takes a snapshot of the hardware and installs drivers for that motherboard and chipset. If you remove that hard drive from the motherboard and put it on another board, when the computer boots the hard drive looks for that hardware to boot if it doesn't find it, it will BSOD, or do what your going through. You can do a Repair Install on this drive to let it install the chipset drivers for this particular motherboard and you shouldn't loose any data. But you may need to reactivate it since this isn't a Compaq motherboard.


Windows Xp Frozen - Bookshelf

Windows XP for dummies

Windows XP for dummies

The computer makes quiet grumbling noises, or Windows XP starts running more ... Programs freeze, menus keep shooting at you, or Windows XP greets you with ...

ITQ Level 2 IT Trouble-shooting for Users using Windows XP

ITQ Level 2 IT Trouble-shooting for Users using Windows XP

If after waiting for five minutes the computer was still frozen, you would need to perform the following exercise. Activity: 1. On the Windows desktop, ...

PCs, the missing manual

PCs, the missing manual

That magic key sequence brings up Windows XP's Task Manager (see Figure 2-4), which is useful for not only killing frozen applications, but also for viewing ...

TechTV's Microsoft Windows XP for home users

TechTV's Microsoft Windows XP for home users

Windows Freezes— and Displays an Error Message Windows XP can sometimes exhibit perplexing behavior. Computer people refer to this as "unstable" behavior. ...

Windows XP Personal Trainer

Windows XP Personal Trainer

The Windows Task Manager window appears, as shown in Figure 9-25. All the programs that are running are listed. Any programs that are frozen or locked up ...

Casual Knowledge Directory


Windows XP freezing! HELP!!!
My windows XP freezes randomly at various times. I thought it might be a problem with the hard drive or something in it, so I reformatted the ...

YouTube - Windows XP Freezing - Fix XP Freezes Easily
http://www.registry-clean-up.net<br><br>Tired of wondering why windows xp is freezing? You can fix computer freezing easily by repairing the registry. Before you bri...

Windows XP Freezes UP - How To Fix XP Freezing | Registry
If Windows XP freezes up then fix XP freezing with a free diagnosis. XP screen freezes are annoying, but you can repair an XP freeze in minutes.

Windows XP Freezes
Why does Windows XP tend to freeze?And how can we cure it?

Windows XP freezes at mup.sys, how do I fix it? - Page 2
Windows XP freezes at mup.sys, how do I fix it? - Page 2 ... Re: Windows xp freezes at mup.sys. I have been researching this and there seems there is many reasons why this ...